Street-indicator.



PATENTED JULY ,1-7,-1906.

J.S. STEMONS. STREET INDICATOR. APPLICATIQN FILED JULY 25, 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET 24 [NVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 17, 1906.

Application filed July 25, 1905. Serial No. 271,226.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES SAMUEL STEM- oNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Indicators and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in street-indicating apparatus, station-indicators, &c.,' and the object of the invention is to produce a simple and eflicient apparatus which will automatically indicate the number or name of a street or astation and comprises a rotary dial having marked thereon the names or numbers of streets or stations and in the provision of electricallyoperated mechanism for im arting an intermittent movement to the ial, whereby the number or name of a street or a station as a car equipped with my apparatus approaches the same may be indicated.

My invention comprises various details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, which will be hereinafterfully described and then specifically defined in the appended claims.

illustrate my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a car, showing diagrammatically the means for electrically operating my indicator. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the invention with the side of the casing containing the indicator removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the casing, showing in plan view the means for reversing the rotary movement of the dial. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of the dial and showing diagrammatically the electrical connections for contact with the conductor-rails. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view transversely through the dial-casing, showing the ratchet-teeth upon the circumference of the latter in elevation; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of mechanism for rotating the dial.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates a car upon which my apparatus is carried, and B comprises the casing of the indicator, having a sight-aperture B, in which is positioned a magnifying-glass D, (shown clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawings,) whereby the numerals or letters upon the face of the dial E may be magnified and readily observed at a distance. Said dial has upon its circumference two circular series of ratchet-teeth, (designated in the drawings, respectively, by letters F and F and clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawings.) Said series of ratchet-teeth are arranged, one reversed to the other, whereby the dial may be rotated in one direction or the other. Said dial is mounted upon a fixed shaft G, secured to the wall of the casing, and said shaft carries a stationary indicatingpointer H, the free end of which is positioned adjacent to the central portion of said sightaperture, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Upon the front face of the dial are arranged the numerals in radial spaces, numberingfrom 1 to 48, andinthese spaces may appear, if desired, the letters of names of streets or other characters.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings will be seen two sliding plates, (designated by letters Q and Q,) said plates having a transverse sliding movement underneath the cleats J, and L designates a lever which is fulcrumed at L, and one end of said lever is pivotally connected to a pin 0, carried by a lug O fixed to the plate Q, and also at O ivotally con nected to the plate Q, where y as the free handle end of said lever is moved in one direction or the other said plates will be caused to move in opposite directions. The plate Q has pivotally mounted upona lug Q thereon a lever Q one end of which is ivotally connected to a spring-pressed pawl 5*, which is in the path of the ratchet-teeth F when the lever L is in the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A spring-pressed pawl R is pivotally mounted upon a lug R, carried by the plate Q, and serves to prevent a reverse motion of the dial when the plate Q is in the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A stop I is carried by the plate Q and serves to limit the outward throw of the lever Q which carries the pawl Q The plate Q has a lever T, which is pivotally mounted upon a lug T and carries a spring-pressed pawl T similar in construction to the lever-and-pawl mechanism which is mounted upon the plate Q, and said spring-pressed pawl T is adapted to engage with the ratchetteeth F when said pawl T is thrown under the ratchet-teeth F, and when the plate Q is actuated by the lever L in such a manner as to bring the pawl Q under the ratchet-teeth F the dial will be driven in a reverse direction from that imparted to it when driven by the pawl T Mounted underneath the casing are bracket-arms M, each of which contains a solenoid M, having a softiron core M to which is pivotally connected a rod W, which in turn is connected to the outer end of the lever Q and Y Y designate wires which pass down through the car and have fastened thereto shoes X, supported by the bars X, depending from the car, said shoes being adapted to contact with a proj ection K upon the third rail K, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, whereby the circuit is closed and the solenoid energized, causing its core to be actuated. A wire Y connects the two solenoids, as clearly shown in the drawings. The electrical circuit is formed by the current after passing from the third rail to the indicator, back through the frame of the car, truck, and wheels, to the rail upon which the wheels travel.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: The dial first having been arranged to be'a'ctuated to the right to disclose the numbers or names .of the streets over which the car equip ed with my apparatus is to travel and the t 'rd rail of the electric system ora trol-ley'provided with a projection K upon the side of the rail adjacent to the streetcrossing and against which projection a shoe is adapted to contact to close the circuit and actuate the solenoids, the pawl Q which has been previouslygthrown underneath the series of ratchet-teeth F, will when the circuit is closed tilt up and cause a partial rotary movement to be given to the dial at each street-crossing,which will cause the number or name of the street to appear at the sightaperture opposite the indicator-pointer the moment the car passes by the projection on the rail K. The circuit is broken and the dial will remain. stationary until the car approaches the next street, at which time the shoe coming in contact with the projection on'the third rail will close the circuit and cause the indicator to rotate sufficiently to disclose the next number or name of the street.. This process'is repeated until the car reaches the end of its line, and if the car returnsover. the course the operator by simply tilting the lever L may cause the dial-actuating apparatusupon the plate Q to be thrown out of gear with one series of ratchet-teeth, while the dial actuating apparatus on the other plate maybe thrown into operative relation with the second series of ratchet-teeth which are reversed to those of the first series, and upon the return trip the shoe upon the opposite side of the car coming in contact witha similar projection from the conduitrail, as described,will cause the dial to indicate the-streets in reverse order in a similar manner as has been described, Thedialbeing rotated in reverse direction will be prevented from rotating in one direction by means of the spring-pressed pawl T, which is mounted upon the plate Q.

By the provision of an apparatus as shown and described it will be noted that a simple and practical device is afforded whereby the names of streets or stations may be automatically indicated at a convenient location for the convenience of passengers.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A street-indicating apparatus for cars, comprising a rotatable dial, having numbers or names of streets upon the face thereof, two series of ratchet-teeth upon the circumference of said dial, one series of teeth being reversely arranged to the other, a stationary indicating-pointer positioned adjacent to a sight-aperture, plates adapted to be actuated simultaneously in opposite directions, electrically actuated pawl mechanism carried by said plates and adapted to engage said ratchetteeth, and meansfor causing said pawl mechanism to engage one or the other of the series of said ratchet-teeth, whereby an intermittent movement may be imparted to the dial in one direction or the other, as set forth.

2. A street-indicator, comprising a rotatable dial, a stationary indicator-pointer, said dial having numerals or letters thereon and provided with two series of ratchet-teeth, one series being reverse to the other, atilting lever, plates pivotally connected to said lever, one upon either side of its fulcrum, electrically-actuated awl mechanism carried by each plate, and a apted to engage one or the other of said series of ratchet-teeth, as set forth.

3. A street-indicator, comprising a casing, a rotatable dial mounted therein, and provided with numerals or letters upon the face thereof, a stationary indicator-pointer positioned adjacent to a sight-aperture, series of reverselyarranged ratchet teeth upon the circumference of said dial, a lever, plateshavingpivotal connection with said lever upon opposite sides of'its fulcrum, guides for said plates, spring-pressed pawls carried by said plates and adapted to engage one or the other of said series of ratchet-teeth, ivoted levers connected to said pawls, an electrically-actuated connections with said pawl-actuating levers, as set forth.

4. A street-indicator, comprising a casing with a sight-aperture, a stationary shaft, a dial journaled upon said shaft, and pro vided with numerals or letters upon the face thereof, an indicator-pointer fixed to said shat, and having its free end adjacent to said sight-aperture, two series of ratchet-teeth upon the circumference of said dial, one series of said teeth being reversely arranged to the teeth of the other, guide-strips upon said casing, plates adapted to slide underneath said guide-strips, a lever pivotally connected to said plates, spring-pressed pawls adapted to engage one series or the other of said ratchetteeth, a lever pivotally connected upon each of said plates and having pivotal connection with one of said pawls, electrically-actuated mechanism for tilting said pawlcarrying levers, and means for preventing the dial from rotating in one direction, as set forth.

5. A street-indicator, comprising a casing, a shaft projecting therefrom, a dial journaled upon said shaft and provided with series of numerals or letters upon the face thereof, a stationary indicator-pointer upon said shaft and with its free end positioned adjacent to a sight-aperture, two series of reversely-arranged ratchet teeth upon the circumference of said dial, a tilting lever, plates mounted to slide in suitable guideways upon the casing, and having pivotal connections with said lever upon either side of its fulcrum, a pivoted lever mounted upon each plate, a spring-pressed pawl carried by each of said levers upon the plates, and adapted to engage one or the other of the series of ratchetteeth, a stop for limiting the outer throwof each spring-pressed pawl, means for preventing the dial from rotating in one direction, and an electrical mechanism for actuating said pawls, whereby a partial rotary movement may be imparted to the dial as the circuit is closed, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES SAMUEL STEMONS.

Witnesses:

W. H. FULLER, 'CLARENoE H. TAYLOR. 

